Third Day in Ilmenau

This is the outside of my apartment building in Ilmenau. I live on the third floor (basically the roof although I think there is actually someone who lives on the fourth floor - must be really small). Yesterday I climbed the Kickelhahn - tallest mountain the region around Ilmenau - and this is a view of Ilmenau from halfway up the mountain.

Today I decided that I would hike the Goethe Wanderweg. It's a trail that Goethe used to hike often when he lived in Ilmenau, using beauty of nature to inspire him. Then he apparently wrote his poems on whatever was available at the moment - stones, building walls, etc - early graffiti and all of that. The whole trail is 21 km long and goes from Ilmenau to Stützerbach. Usually you take the bus back to Ilmenau from there, but I decided I was cheap and it was only 10 km back to Ilmenau so I walked. 31 km is a long way. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries about twenty minutes into the hike so I only got a few pictures. That just means I have to do it again sometime.

There's a heated outdoor pool that's only open for a couple more days. I meant to go after hiking today, but I was a little too tired - plus it's really only about 50 degrees here, so it's hard to get in the mood for swimming even if it is heated. I walked over and looked at it the other day though - fairly elaborate - with water slides and everything. Maybe I will go tomorrow. There's also an indoor swimming pool, but it doesn't open until the outdoor pool closes.

This evening I went to the movie theatre. Wednesdays and Sundays it has what they call Kino-Extra - which I would term as showing indie type films. I saw a movie called "Der große Ausverkauf", which translates to "The Big Sellout". It talked all about privatization and how it has affected different people across the world - another one of those movies that makes you really uncomfortable to be an American because you feel like it is all your fault. It was a German film, but it was completely not in German at all - mostly in English, sometimes in Spanish, always subtitled. I think there is usually a discussion of the films afterwards but I was pretty tired after all my hiking so I just went back (also I don't have a key to my apartment yet and I didn't want to be locked out because my roommate already went to sleep or something).

Tomorrow's agenda:
- get a bank account
- register myself as a resident of the town
- go meet my Betreeungslehrerin (mentor teacher) - whose English to be honest is really not very good - maybe I don't speak very clearly, but she never understands what I say - I think I will try German - but she probably wants to practice her English also) - I heard from the guy at the Tourist Office that she broke her hand somehow - but it's okay because you don't need your hands to teach (his words not mine).